The Layers of Motherhood

Planner Nerd, Planner Community, Planner Goodies….

With life being as crazy as it is…I really don’t know how people live without a planner. Now planners come in all shapes and sizes and those of us who would classify ourselves as part of the “planner community”, we love them all!

I started with a little pocket one that I received in the mail at age 19 and I soon realized when I started working that this was the only thing that kept me out of trouble from double bookings. I was working 3 jobs and of course trying to have a social life. Now fast forward to 30+ years later and here I am still using a planner to keep my sanity….but even better… I use several.

Planners are part of my daily dress and essential to the day and something that I would classify as an accessory. In addition to classifying my planner as an accessory…I love bags (another sign of a planner nerd), earrings, scarves, shoes, bracelets and lipsticks (yes that was plural lipsticks). A planner to me is my life line…not only for keeping my schedule in order, but I faithfully use an A – Z file system for basic notes I need to keep for lists, journal notes, important info you just don’t know where else to store it…. and so much more.

When I started out it was just a calendar and now as you can see I use it for so much more. How do you use your planners? Which kind(s) do you use? My favorite and my go to is a Purple Personal size Malden Filofax. I must admit I am hooked on Filofax anything. I then use a faux Malibu by Franklin Covey for my house binder/planner; I have an A5 Color Crush for my blogs posts and a Travelers notebook that I tried using for my go to ….but now it stares at me for a purpose. I also have a small pocket-size Target planner that I use for my church schedule, notes, and ministries that I am involved in.

My home office has turned into my planner office (or at least I like to think of it that way). Yes of course, the Dollar Tree and Target Dollar Spot and I have become good friends when I am looking for my planner goodies. Speaking of planner goodies….anyone interested in a give a way? See notes below….

I am obsessed with sticky notes, pens, and page flags….YIKES…I am a planner nerd! I have a wonderful pen pal and we do an exchange every other month. She lives in Europe so it is fun to exchange USA items and European items together and even though we have never met in person, I consider her a great friend.

My family and friends think I am nuts…and I probably am and that is just fine with me. Planners are fun for me and I enjoy not only using them in a practical way… but I am enjoying decorating them as most of you do too. Washi tape is a staple in our home! Stickers and any other goodies that I can use…help me be as creative as I want to be. What goodies do you all use? Where do you like to shop?

A few years ago, I became bored with the normal neat, schedule planner look and so the search began for me to find a new and different way to use my planner….and so it began. Once I watched You Tube…it opened a world to me of planners, planner love and planner people which lead to Facebook groups for planners.

I began decorating and using this outlet as a quick creative way to fill my crafter need. Since my days are sooo busy these days and time is short for crafts and scrapbooking…this fills the gap. I now enjoy scrapbooking and making junk journals which for me are much easier than the normal scrapbooking and I love to use Travelers Notebooks for my junk journals. It keeps in small and neat and simple for me.

Well there you have it….my planner story. What is your story? I would love to hear from you and all about your planners, goodies, where you shop, what planner you like the best and how you use them. Leave a comment below and let me know.

Extra goodies are overflowing in my office with extra pens, sticky notes, and washi etc… They are piling up and in light of connecting with other planner buddies….I am going to do a give-a-way . I am thankful for this creative outlet and I would like to bless someone with some goodies.

Here are the rules for the give-a-way:

You must leave a comment below

You must follow my blog

You must live in the USA

You must love planners

I am looking forward to seeing who wins….I will give you until December 24. At that time I will pick a winner with the best story in the comments.

14 thoughts on “Planner Nerd, Planner Community, Planner Goodies….”

I am a full time wife and mother of 2. Sean is 3 and Alyssa is 1. On top of that I work full time at night and go to school full time online. I am constantly relying on a little notebook I keep in my purse. I love the idea of a planner but never tried one. I would love to start one instead of the notebook that is currently keeping me straight!!

It is nice to find another person in the planner community that loves it as much as me. I enjoy it for both planning and organizing my life and also for journaling and using it as a creative outlet with all my craft supplies:)

I am so excited! I just received my planner for 2017! I bought my first Erin Condren planner a year ago and really have enjoyed it. I Love washi tape and stickers as well as stampin’ in it, to just being creative.
I journal lots of scriptures in it, with thoughts to schedules. ❤️

I have not used an Erin Condren yet…but I am very tempted between this one and the Happy Planner. I think I would like to use them for highlights of events for our family on the calendar and then journal and scrapbook on the weeks instead of a regular planner. I am still hooked on ring planners but I am now also enjoying bullet journaling in a Travelors notebook. Too many fun things to choose from:)

In high school I always used to use the planner that was provided for us, and in college started to buy the cheaper Mead ones from Target. I have continued to use those, always drooling over other kinds, and this year took the plunge and got my first Erin Condren. In the past few years, since becoming a mom, I have started to really decorate them with stickers, washi tape, fancy markers, etc. It gives me a creative outlet (like you said, too busy to scrapbook much right now) and looks oh so beautiful! I also love the Target Dollar Spot (a little too much, haha). Thanks for all the wonderful insight, I went on the filofax website and was poking around!!

If you are interested in a Filofax….check out the groups for this on Facebook. I got 2 from there at really good deals for used ones. Also Amazon has some great prices and a lot less the the actual Filofax web site….of course you happy to get one of their really great deals. Happy Planning!!!!

Also, do you have any favorite etsy shops to buy stickers from, or any favorite brands of planner items? I’ve always been in love with Paper Mate Flair pens, Staedtler pens, Dollar Spot seasonal stickers, and spruced up binder clips!

Dollar Tree is my all time favorite for planner supplies. I love watching and following people on You Tube for what is the latest finds at Dollar Tree. Etsy is a fun place to shop…my favorite shop is DeerestDahling ( she has a Facebook Group, You Tube Channel and Instagram) I just love her created ideas and GREAT stickers in her shop. Also Tiendatita Shop, The Simple Bin, Love Yellow Paper House and Happy Digital Download.